Overview
- External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said Tuesday that peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control must be stable before India will normalise relations with China.
- Jaishankar said the frontier has largely 'settled down' since 2024 and that limited 'early harvest' economic steps are being explored without making full boundary settlement a prerequisite for business.
- Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal signalled willingness to rebuild commercial ties if terms are fair and the geopolitical environment remains stable.
- India flagged a deep trade imbalance with China, reporting bilateral trade of about USD 127.7 billion in 2025–26 and a widening deficit that officials say reflects a lack of market access for Indian firms.
- Diplomatic frictions persist, including Beijing's rejection of India's standardisation of 28 place names in Ladakh, and the 2020 Galwan clashes and tighter post-2020 investment rules remain key background for New Delhi's cautious approach.